PREFACE: The Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty (hereafter “the Campaign”) is an independent, not-for-profit advocacy group focused on righting historical wrongs caused by decades of cannabis prohibition. It was founded in April 2018 in response to the absence of federal legislation addressing the stigma of previous convictions for offences that would no longer be illegal under the Cannabis Act. Since then, the Campaign has been calling on the government to enact legislation to delete criminal records relating to the simple possession of cannabis. We believe that no Canadian should be burdened with a criminal record for minor, non-violent acts that are no longer crimes.

INTRODUCTION: For almost 95 years, the criminalization of simple cannabis possession has resulted in the imposition of unreasonably harsh penalties on hundreds of thousands of Canadians. It is estimated that as many as 500,000 Canadians currently have a criminal record for simple cannabis possession.1 These records interfere with their ability to travel, find meaningful employment, and volunteer in their communities. To make matters worse, decades of unequal enforcement of cannabis possession offences has disproportionately affected racialized, low-income and Indigenous Canadians.

The Campaign supports the implementation of measures to remove the stigma of past cannabis convictions that disproportionately impact marginalized people. As it is currently drafted, however, Bill C-93, does not go far enough. We offer the following observations and modest recommendations on this proposed legislation.

The Canadian Government made history in October last year after the legalization of cannabis. The plant has been a topic of huge debates because of its previous illegal state. However, with time and research, a strong case has been made for its beneficial attributes. The Cannabis Act is one of the hallmarks of the change in the perception of cannabis. However, there is more to the issue than just making it legal.

It’s hard to believe thatlegalization was just a few months ago. And, while the rollout of cannabis legalization in Canada has been nothing short of a rocky, there are a bunch of exciting developments on the horizon.

The future of cannabis in Canada is looking bright. Here are 7 key cannabis moments that we’re looking forward to in 2019.

Annamaria Enenajor has got a fact-check for Canadians: The federal government is not pardoning people who have criminal records for cannabis possession.

Widespread use of the word “pardon” in news stories about the Liberals’ approach to dealing with possession records is misleading. First of all, the term “pardon” isn’t officially used in the Canadian justice system.

“Why aren’t we passing laws to wipe those records, instead of just giving people these pardons?” asks John Conroy, an attorney who received Lift & Co.’s Canadian Cannabis Crusader award in 2014. Conroy says it will take more than pardons to dull prohibition’s sting on the500,000-plus Canadiansliving with criminal records for minor possession charges alone—they need amnesty.

She was an intensely driven straight-A student; a church-once-a-week, confession-once-a-month Catholic teen who never used drugs and considered becoming a nun. Even as an adult, she rarely drinks and dabbled in marijuana only twice, calling the experiments a disaster.